Vehicle



Patented Oct. 1927. i he r -W J VEHICLE.

Application filed; October 14. 1926. Serial no; 141,509. Y

n The, present invention relates to vehicles 7 rear floatsiG and l8, are mounted atthe rear adapted to travel either on land or in water, of the vehic1 e,.- as will be describ dhe i a and the chief object of the invention is to. 'a fterr provide a new and improved vehicle of To mount rear wheels 12 and 14, two 5 character. ,Otherand further ob].ects:w1ll castings 20and 22 are screwed one-upon' I I i i be explained hereinafter and will be particueach of the lower ends of the; rear 'forkj4,

larly pointed out in the appended cla ms. by means of hinged collars 24 and wing'ed The invention will beexplained n con nuts26, as shown moreparticularly in Fig.-

which Fig. l is a side elevation; partly in castings depends-abar 28, shown as of square in accordance with a, preferred embodiment desired form. The ends of the bar are m I of the present inventionyFig- 2 is a section vided with wheel-supports 27 and .29 in taken upon .the line 2--2 of FigjB, looking V which the wheels 12 and'14, respectively,are l in the direction of thearrows; Fig. 3 :is a journaled. The bar is pivotedon the cast-.

view. of a preferred cable-tension-releasing in'gs 20 and 22 about horizontally disposed mechanism; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan of pivots 30 an d carriesa sub-frame 'compris the handle bar and connected parts; Fig. .5 ing a bell-crank lever rising integrally upis a section taken upon-the line 5-5 of;Fig. ward and constituted of two parallelly dis 8, looking in the direction. of the arrows; posed,.b ell-crankarms 36, 3 8,connected at Fig, 6 is a section taken upon thellne 6 6 their upper ends an arm .34. *An' adjust of Fig. 8, lo0ki-ng in'the direction of the ing screw 32-,is threaded through the arm 34 r ow upon a larger scale; .Fig- 7 is a.deand into engagement with the rear fork 4.

nection with the accompanying drawings, in 2, orin any other-desired way; From these 65 longitudinal section,vof a vehicleconstructed tubular'form, but ;it.may;,be of any. oth r tail view of one of the handles of the handler The bell crank lever 34, 36," 38 and the bar i 95 bar mechanisnnwith connected parts; Fig. 8 2 8 integraltherewith are thus pivotally ad is a rear elevation of the vehicle; Fig. 9 is a justable as a unit abont the pivots 30 by the se'ction'taken uponthefli'ne 9 -9 of Fig. 10, set screw, 32. .A sprocket chainfl40cpasses looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. over the driving, sprocket 6 and a driven 10 i section taken upon; .the line 1010 sprocketu42 Thesprocket 42 is mounted so of Fig.- 8, lookinginft-he direction of the upon anffaxle 44 that is journaled in ball arrows; Fig. 11, is asection taken upon the bearings 46 and; 48 provided upon the arms line 11-.11 of Fig. 1, looking in the direc- 36 and 38. ,The adjusting screw32. thus protion of the arrows; Fig. 12 is a section taken vides .for adjusting the sub-frame and tenupon the line 12-12 of Figs. 1 and 8,.jlooksioningthe .sprocketchain 40. 9o

35 ing'in the directlonof ,thearrows and Fig. The axle, 44' is shown extendin'g horizonl 13fis a" fragmentaryplan, upon a reduc'ed tally across the rear portion of the vehicle, I scale. 1 approximately parallel tothe Banana the 'The invention is shown applied'to' ave sprocket42 isshown mounted near one end hicle of'the' tricycle form, though it will be of thisaXleJ' The opposite en /granu e 40 understood that it is equally applicable to is Jorovidedwith v another sprocket 50 over bicycles, motorcycles, and other vehi'cles of which is mounteda sprocket chain 52. @The well-known type. Thetricycle comprises a sprocket; jchain52 connects the sprocket 50. forward steering fork 2, .controlled'by a ban with a'sprocket 54 that fixed tothe wheel e dle bar 3, and a rear fork 4; A driving 12, so asto dr'ivethe same. The .pedalsc.8,= 45 sprocket -6 is controlled'by" twope d'als 8. driving'the sprocket wheel 6,,the sprocket Y The forward or steering wheel 10 is mount chain 40,'and the sprocket wheell42,cause ed on the steering-fork 2 andthe'rear wheelsthe axle 44 to berotated this, in turn, drives 12 and 14 are mounted at the rear, of the vethe sprocket 50, which.causes the rotation of hicle. These wheels are mounted in a zmanthegsprocket 54 through the sprocket'chain Y 50 her different from that whichordinarily ob; 52; and the sprocket. 54 drives the wheel '12 j p tains in tricycles and which will presently its 'aXle53. A positive driveisthus be'eiip'lained. The wheels are usedwhen the. obtained upon the rear wheel 12. only, the I vehicle is traveling on land. [To support the wheels 14 and 10 being looselydriven by.

vehicle in'water, it is provided 'witlif'afplu friction with'the gro'undQ This construction 11o ralityof floats. Afro'nt float'15is shown permit s the "wheel. 10 to be steered, and it" mounted about the' steering wheel 10 and permitsturning the wheel 1 14 i'abont the,

wheel 12.as a pivot, or vice versa, all without interfering with the driving mechanism of the wheel 12. Thewheel 12 is provided with an ordinary coaster brake. The wheel 14 may be braked by separate brakes controlled by a cable 57 through a lever 61 at i one of the handles 59 of the handle bar.

It is desirable to drive the wheels only when the vehicle is traveling over the land, and to operate the vehicle from'oneor more propellers 56 when the'vehicle is driven over a wire-net casing 61"to 'prote'ctit' against shown in Fig. 4 1 full'and dotted lines,

the water. Each propeller is mounted in sea-weedand other foreign matter.

Provision ismade'for disconnecting the sprocketwheel 50 from the axle 44 by means of a clutch 58 when the vehicle is used in i the water. This may be effected by operating-a lever mechanism "through a cable or other connection 62 by means'of a pivoted bell crank 64'just below the'center 65 of the handle bars. The bell crank 64 is h and is provided. with a beveled gear.76 that 44, the shaft 74 is displaced horizontally.

' shaft 74 splined thereto, each justment of the. shaft 74.

meshes with agea'r 78 ofiaf horizontally 'disposed shaft 80. 'The propeller 56 is secured to the shaft 80. When the vehioleis'traveling over the 'land, it is desired to raise the propeller 5611p above the" position that it occupies when the vehicle is in the water. This may "be effected by merely moving the shaft 7 4 vertically through the toothed wheel 72. In order'to' permit such'vertical adjustment without interference by the axle withfrespect to the axle 44, as sho nin ig- 1' Obviouslypnot one propeller alone, but any number, may be provided, merelyby having additional toothed wheels168 upon th'e'axle 44 and, cooperating toothedwheels displace'df'rom thi's'axle. 'Each toothed wheel 70 will have a'vertica'lly adjustable I, driving a propeller 56. If one such propeller is provided'directly below the right-hand end of the axle 44, as viewed in Fig. 8 ,the toothed wheels 68 and '70 may be'replaced by bev eled gears and the correspondingshaft 74 may be'mounted for. vertical adjustment in thejver ical plane; passing through the axle 44, as in tha't-ca'se there would be no interferencefbetweenthe axle 44- and the adis clearly The vertical adjustment of the shaft 74 maybe eflected in anydesired way. It is preferred-to control this adjustment by a lever 81, situated near the otherhandle 79 of the handle bar, and acting through a cable 82 upon a lever 83 near the propeller.

One end of the lever 83 is pivoted to one sulting raising of the bar 89. The lower end of the bar 89 is fixed to the bearing of the shaft 80 at 93 and'a cross bar 95 connects together the upper ends of the bar 89 and the shaft 74. Raising of the bar ,89, the're fore, results in raisingof the shaft 74 and the propeller 56 as a unit, without breaking the driving connection between the propeller and the axle 44. The lever 81 may belocked in position by a latch 101. i

A clutch (not shown) may be employed todisconnect the propeller 56 from its driving mechanism when it is raised. "This clutch may be thrown out when the clutch 58 is thrown in, and vice versa, or. it may be thrown in whengthe propeller is lowered and thrown out when the propeller is raised.

This clutch mechanism is not illustrated, in order to simplify the drawings, but its mechanical details will be obviousto persons skilled in the art. v

The floats 16 and18 are shown inrais'e'd position, such'as they would occupy when thevehicle is traveling over the land. In order to lower these floats, which may be desirable whenthe vehicle is on the watch the floats are each-provided withda'nfeye 88 through which extends a lever 90 that is pivoted to the bar 28 at 92 and that may be operated by a handle 94. The handle 94 is normally maintained jin the illustrated position by a spring 96, but'may beactu'ated in'opposition to the force'of the spring, to cause a lowering of the floats 16 and 18, as shownin Fig. 6. I During the raising and lowering of the floats, they are guided by guide bars 98 that extend d ownward from the bar'28 and into guide openings 100 of the floats, The movement of the lever 90 is limited by. stops 97 and 99 in a guide 103, as shown in Fig. 5.

As W111 be clear from Figs. 8, ni e 12,"

the float-s are each provided 7 "with an opening throughwhich the wheels and their sup ports extend In the case of the floats 16 and 18, the opening 102 is somewhat off. center, as illustratedin F ig.'12, in order that a greater portion of the float maybe within the boundary of the vehicle thani outside thereof, thereby to prevent the. floatspro jecting too far hicle. -The floats 16 and 18 areeach in one piece,- with the openings 100 and 102 in beyond the sides of the ve-v i tegrally formed therein. The float 15, however,.-is eonstitutedof two separate floats,

i hinged together at the front, as shown at 104,- and .secured together at 1 the rear, 'as shown at 106.. Each of these separate floats is provided with an intermediately disposed recess 108, the two recesses between them I forming the opening through "which the wheel '10 extends. The outer side of each of the floats 15 is provided; with a steering rudder 109.. Onthe wall of each recess 108 there jis secured a framework 110 in'any suitable wayyas showniat 112, each frame- 2 the framework 110 is 'an upwardly rising.

work being-provided with an opening 114:

w within which the ends of the axle 116 of the wheel are received. 'Integral with member 113 providedwithan'opening 11.5

adapted to receivea pin 117 .thatjextends throughcorrespondingly position-ed OPGIllIlgS atthe bottom of the. front fork 2jand in which, in the ordinary tricycle, the front wheel 10'is journaled. The memberv 113 is secured to the front fork 2 in any'desired way as by means of hinged collars 118 and winged nuts 120. This construction permits ready. removal and. remounting of the floats.

and permits turning the wheel 10'and thefloat 15 as a unit for steering purposes. A reinforcing rod 121 may be secured to the front fork 2' in any desired manner to brace the rod against strains. v

To steady the vehicle, cables 122 connect eyes1124: at the ends of the bar 28 with various portions ofthe vehicle such as the upper portion of therearfork 4, as ind cated at 126, and other portions such as the ends f 128 of a horizontally disposed bar 130 near the front fork 2. The cables may be ten-' sioned in any desired way, as by means of turnbuckles 132. The cables may be slackened at will by'means of latches 134, shown more particularly in Fig. 3. These latches also loosen a waterproof bag 136 that houses the driving parts of the vehicle and premay be provided carrying several seats.

gOt-her modifications, too, will occur to perg sons skilled in the art and allsuch are consideredto fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. I

vWhat is claimed is: p r '1. A land-arid-water vehicle comprising a frame having two rear wheels and a front wheel, a float carriedby the frame near eachwheel, each float having an opening through which the corresponding wheel'extends, means for turning the front wheelandthef corresponding" float to steer the vehicle. i

' 'A land-and-watervehicle comprising: a

horizontally disposed bar, wheels journaled,

at the ends of the bar, floats carried at the ends of thej-bar, means carried by'the bar for adjusting the floats, and means carried for guidingthe adjustment of'the I by the bar floats; J i

Aland and-watervehicle comprisinga tricycle framehaving'a' forwa-rd steering.

fork, a rear fork and adrivingsprocket, a

wheel journal-edin the'steering fork, fa'fi o-at' mounted on thesteering fork, abar mounted on the. ends of the rear fork, wheel's four-p naled nearthe endso-f thebar, oneofthe 8 wheels having" a driven sprocket, floats mounted atthe'flends of the bar,ft'a driving axle havingtwo sprockets,asprocket chain connecting one: of the twofsprockets with the driving sprockeha sprocket chainco-n s 3 nectin-gthie other of the two'sprockets with the driven sprocket, acl'ut'ch for disconnecting the said other of the two sprockets from the drivingaxle, an"adjustablepropeller, a

shaft adjustable with the propeller, a toothed wheel through which the shaft is adjustably 1,955

splined on the shaft, the shaft and the toothed' wheel beingoffset from the driving axle, and a toothed wheel fixed on the driv ing axle for engaging the first-named toothed wheel to drive the propeller.

4. A vehicle of the class described comprising a tricycle frame having-a rear fork and a driving sprocket, a sub-frame mounted on loo the ends of therear. fork having a. driven sprocket and abar, a sprocket chain connect- 1 ing the sprockets,.wheels .journaled near the ends of'the bar, and means for adjusting the I i subfr'ame'on the rear forkto tensionthe] sprocket chain. y

5. A ehicle of the class described compris:

ing a tricycle frameh'aving arear fork, bar mounted on the lower ends of the rear fork, wheels 'jo'urnaled near the ends of the fork, and steadying cables connecting the ends of the bar with the upperportionof the rearfork.

6. A land-and-water vehicle comprising j means for driving the vehicle onvland, means for driving the vehicle in water, and a water proof bag in which the driving means is positioned to shield thedriving means from the water.

7. A land-and-water vehicle comprising wheels for supporting the vehicle on land,

floats for supporting the vehicle in water,

means for driving one of the wheels and having a coaster brake, and a separate another wheel. 8. A vehicle ofthe classdescribed comprisbrake for ing a tricycle frame having a rear fork, a bar I Ounted; on the lowerendsof the rear fork,

- Wheelsfjournaled near the ends of the bar,-

steadying cables connecting the ends of the housing the drivingmeans, the cables being Constructed and arranged to. hold the housingmeansinposition.

i 9. A land-and-w atervehicle comprising a framehavmga handle bar, a wheel mounted on the frame for driving the vehicleron land,

a propeller mounted on the frame for drivingtheQVehicle in water, a brake for the wheel, means positioned near vthe handle bar for actuatingthe brake, and means posi-v tioned nearthe handle bar for adjustingthe propeller. e I p 10. A-. land-andewater vehicle comprising afra me having a handle bar, means for drivingqthe vehicle on land, means for driving .two driving means, means positioned near the handle bar for connecting one of [the driving means to and disconnecting it from the pedal, and means connected near the handle. bar for controlling the'other driving means,

{.11. A land-and-water;vehicle comprising I rear fork and awd'riving'sprocket,fa3wl1eel u jonrnaledin the steering fork, a float mount ed 011 the steering fork, rear-wheels carried by the rear forlnene of the;,wheelfshaving' a driven sprocket, floats mounted near the rear wheels, a driving axle,- 111eans;forFdriving the rear wheel from the driving axle. an adjustable propeller, a' shaft for; driving. the

propeller and adjustablewiththepropeller, V .means for driving the shaft from the driving the vehicle inv water,.a pedal for'vactuating' axle,-and.means for raising and lowering: the shaft and the propeller Without breaking its driving connection with .-the axle.

In testimony whereof,. I have hereunto subscribed my name 1 SA'NN-I, AR'roiioI 

